Alternate
by contheythoughtwasLOVE
Summary: What if Marinette wasn't Ladybug? An alternate universe where Marinette gets a cute pair of cat earrings and Adrien looks a little bit like a strawberry. Kwami Swap AU. (I do not own miraculous) (Rated T because I'm a generally paranoid person) (cover image credited to maskiity at jolyday)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N; Unfortunately, even in this alternate universe, there's no way I could ever own Miraculous. **

"GAAAAH!" Marinette screamed, staring at the tiny black cat floating above her rumpled purple sheets.

"No! Shhhjj-_don't do that!" _The creature hissed, it's green eyes darting around her room. "Marinette?" Her mom's voice carried up through her loft's door. "Are you alright? Is something wrong?"

She was about to scream again, or at least try to duck past the cat creature to escape, when it suddenly floated forward and put a tiny paw over her mouth. "Tell her you're fine, and I'll explain everything. Promise." It said.

Something in the little cat's voice made her trust it. "I'm okay, mom." She called back. "Just….thought there was a cat in my room. My mistake. Just a shadow."

"Okay, honey. Just remember to go to bed soon, okay?"

"Sure, mom." She replied, then focused her attention on the cat creature. It was tiny, black, and fuzzy with big luminous green eyes.

"The name's Plagg. You got any cheese?" It said. Or _he. _She thought it was a _he_ anyway.

"Ch…...cheese?" She squeaked. The cat began propelling itself around her room, poking around her desk and on her shelves and dressmakers supplies. All the while, it continued to chatter. "Camenbert, preferably. It's the goddess of all cheeses…_ah, mio bel formaggio!" _

"Uh, are you speaking Italian?" She asked, curious despite herself, and pulled herself out of the corner she'd been crouching in since she put on the pretty black earrings from the weirdly Chinese looking box. It was then that the cat creature, _Plagg, _had appeared. The cat, who was still talking.

"Whatever. Anyway, I'm Plagg, your kwami. You've been chosen, you're a superhero now…blah blah blah. Your most important job will be feeding me. Go find some cheese. I'm hungry. _HEY." _ He yelled as a glass was suddenly slammed over him. "You said you'd explain everything." Marinette said, holding her hands over the glass. "Start talking."

* * *

"I'm Tikki. I'm a kwami. We're magical creatures that give our Chosens superpowers." The little red creature explained as she sat on Adrien's desk, politely eating a cookie. Today had been his first day at an actual school with real people (shudder), and he'd been in his room, pulling his books out of his school bag, when he'd found an odd little box in the bottom. When he opened it, he discovered an oddly circular shaped ring. Once he slipped it on his finger (a perfect fit), a small bug-like creature had magically appeared.

He had been totally cool about this (actually, to be completely honest, he'd screamed at high decibels until the creature began to speak).

"Superpowers?" He said. "As in, superheroes? As in, I'll be a superhero and save the world from villains and probably be in newspapers and on TV and posters and be famous?"

Tikki nodded. "Yes, exactly!" She said brightly.

Turning away, he began lining his school books back up on his shelf in alphabetical order. "Choose someone else."

"What?" The tiny creature said.

"I don't want it." He said. "I'm not right to be a superhero. I'm shy. I'm clumsy. I don't have any friends. I haven't left my house to do anything other than modeling and now school in years."

The red kwami floated around to face him. "Master Fu chose you for a purpose." She said.

"Master Fu?" Adrien asked. "Yes, he's the guardian of all the miraculouses. He's the one who chooses who is worthy enough to help save Paris. Those chosen get miraculouses and kwamis, the sources of their powers. Adrien, he thought _you _were _worthy." _

Frustrated, he ran his hands through his hair. "I don't want to fight villains! Okay, I'll be honest. I get scared. I can't even sit through horror movies! How do you expect me to defeat villains by myself? Even with superpowers?"

"But you won't be alone!" Tikki argued.

"What do you mean?" Marinette asked. "You mean, there's more? As in more kwamis? More superheroes?" She'd already decided to let the cat out of the glass, and he was once again roaming her room in search of food. "Yes." Plagg said. "There will be more."

"When can I meet them?" She asked excitedly.

"HA! You'll be meeting at least one of them soon enough. Hawkmoth won't be waiting around for much longer. He'll start sending akumas any day now. Which doesn't give us much time. We need to go tonight."

"Go where?" She asked, looking down at her pajamas. "We need to go someplace where you can start training. You need to be as ready as possible. But you're feeding me first."

"But I have school tomorrow! I need to sleep!" Marinette complained. "Shut it, kid." Plagg said grumpily. "If anyone has the right to gripe, it's me. If you don't find me something to eat in the next five seconds, I'll start chewing on these fancy papers." He gestured to her desk, covered in various clothing designs. Rolling her eyes, Marinette hopped out of bed, and peeked through her hatch door, checking to see that her parents were in bed and out of the kitchen that led to their bakery. Sneaking down the stairs, she ran to grab a cheese danish out of the pastry case. She returned to find Plagg eyeing a drawing of a punk rocker jacket hungrily. Without a word, she quickly tossed him the pastry, and watched as he devoured it in one noisy gulp. "Any more?" He whined hopefully.

"I can't take too many, or else my parents will notice. But," She said, taking pity on him, "when we get back, I'll give you one more."

Plagg floated up in the air and hovered in front of her. "To transform into your suit, you have to say 'Plagg, claws out'."

Obediently, she spoke the three words and the world turned hazy for a moment. With a brilliant green flash, it turned clear again.

The first thing Marinette noticed was her hair.

She always kept her hair to her shoulders. It was now styled in a three foot long braid, and….swaying slowly from side to side. On its own.

_'It's just part of the disguise…..quit freaking out.' _

Plagg's voice was in her head. Now she was freaking out even more.

'_Chill, would you? I'm part of the suit, so you can hear me in your thoughts. But no one else can. You're __fine__.'_

The rest of her suit consisted of a black suit with strange glowing neon lining, and a leather mask over her eyes and nose. She was also wearing black gloves with…..were those claws? And strange boots.

' _Okay. You've looked at the suit. Let's go. ' _came Plagg's voice again. "Go where?" She asked.

'_Anywhere but here, stupid. Preferably somewhere unoccupied.' _

With a sigh, she stumbled clumsily to her door and started to sneak down the stairs.

'_What are you doing?' _

"I'm trying to NOT wake up my parents." She hissed.

'_You could have gone out the window.' _

"Fine, I'll do that _next _time. Now shut up so I can concentrate." She snapped. With a snort of derision, Plagg quieted.

* * *

_'Just go out the window, Adrien!'_

Adrien stood frozen by his bed, staring out his open window. "Ummmmm….."

Why did the next rooftop look so far away?

'_You don't have to get to the rooftop. You just have to climb down the wall. Your feet and hands can magnetize to any surface.' _

"Ummmmm….."

There was a tiny sigh somewhere in his head.

_'The first step is the beginning of every journey, Adrien. You just have to take the first step. Just close your eyes and imagine your feet sticking to the wall.'_

Somehow, he was at the window with his eyes clenched shut. He took a deep breath, and slowly inched one foot over the ledge, and braced it against the wall. He gently tugged the foot. It stayed! Feeling a tiny bit of confidence, he swung the other leg over, and crouched down upside down, thrusting his hands onto the building.

With his eyes shut, it only took a few seconds for the world to right itself. After a few minutes of intense breathing, he slowly stood up and walked down the wall.

'_You can open your eyes now.' _

Blinking, Adrien looked at a sea of green. "Um?"

'_It's the grass. You need to get off the wall.' _

Oh.

Somehow, he detached from the wall and tumbled onto his knees.

'_You'll get better at this, trust me.' _Tikki's voice said encouragingly.

Not commenting, he rose to his feet and checked to make sure he hadn't damaged his suit. It was red, and was his mask. And the yo yo hanging from a strap around his waste. _Strong ladybug theme_, he thought. It was kind of embarrassing.

Speaking of….

"Tikki, what's my superhero name?"

_'Ladybug.' _

Of course.

"Is there any way to change that? Couldn't it be something cool, like Bugman or Bugzilla?"

_'It's kind of tradition that those that have the ladybug miraculous be named Ladybug. It's gender neutral.' _

Barely.

"Just call me LB, okay?"

_'Okay, Adrien. But we need to go. You still need to train. Let's start with climbing, and then you can start working with the yo yo.'_

With a sigh, he looked at the wall surrounding his father's mansion, and prepared to climb.

* * *

**A/N; Well, this is my first fanfic, even though I've written stories for years. I discovered Miraculous last winter and fell completely in love with it. **

**There are some definite changes with their super powers and stuff. Pretty much everything is purposeful, like Plagg speaking Italian (I still don't even know why...:D). **

**Let me know what you guys think! If you want more, chapter two's only waiting for some interested readers. :)**


	2. Pretty, Perfect Puppet: Chapter Two

** Pretty, Perfect Puppet: 2**

**A/N: Hey, everybody! ****First of all, a huge thanks to my readers, followers, and reviewers! You guys are awesome! And speaking of reviews...:D**

**OptimisticWatermelon98: Here you go! ;)**

**Polaris.65: Thanks for the support!**

**Atho643210: Awwwww! Thank you so much! :3**

**SiredtoBen: Thx! Also, if you're still looking for good miraculous fanfics, you could try doing a search for 'best miraculous fanfiction'. There's even a couple of communities on here that gather together some of the best completed ones. I've read a lot of them and they're really good.**

**ManarOfTheFire: *happy squeal* Thank you! I know that I definitely made some changes...especially personalities, lol. I'm even changing the akumas. Instead of using the ones from the original show, I'd like to try something a little different. ;) **

**Which brings me to my big question. I've been trying to come up with some akuma ideas, and then how they could be defeated. But so far I'm a little stumped. (:p Anybody have any ideas?**

**They would mostly be used as practice in LadyNoir's and LB's training, kind of working them up to the 'big' akuma. **

**It's gonna be big, guys. ;D**

* * *

'_Try again.' _

That was how it had been for the last three hours. It turned out that her superpower was destruction. She could destroy anything with one touch, but only once for each transformation. And her 'magical tool' was a glorified metal pipe. As soon as she noticed it, she nearly cried. And not tears of joy either. But once Plagg walked her through the pipes extra features: extending impossible distances, a cute phone and text service, indestructibility...

Well. It actually wasn't _that _bad.

But adjusting from a sophisticated sabre to the metal pipe was exhausting.

With aching muscles, she yanked the pipe out of the bush where it had landed with a sickening clunk after she'd overextended…again. With a sigh, she dropped it on the ground and sank down beside it.

_'Get up. Try again.' _ Came the annoying, ever consistent voice.

"No. I can't do this." She said quietly, trying to avoid drawing any attention to herself. She was standing in someone's rooftop arboretum. It was empty, silent. But she still kept it down, just in case.

"_Look, kid, I'm all for those stupid cheesy movie scenes where the mentor gently leads his student to self-acceptance and confidence. EXCEPT I DON'T CARE. Now get your butt off the ground and get to work. The sooner you get this done, the sooner I can get back to your little hovel and get some decent sleep, which I haven't had in CENTURIES, by the way. '_

She dropped her head onto her knees and yawned.

' _I will smack you from inside this suit. Get. Up.' _

With an angry huff, she jumped to her feet and grabbed the pipe off the ground, whopping into a lunge so fast, her braid smacked her eyes. And that's when the pipe soared out of her grip and over the edge of the building.

' Just _fan-freaking-tastic. Go get it, stupid.' _

Growling, she leapt over the side of the building.

* * *

With a grunt, he landed on the very edge of the building, and frantically windmilled his arms, gaining back his balance. "I landed on the building this time!"

' _Good job, Adrien.' _Tikki said, her voice patient._ 'Let's do three more jumps and then move on to some endurance exercises.'_

"Um, endurance like running for long distances?"

'_Yes. You've already shown that your quite comfortable with your yo yo. Eventually, we'll practice capturing akumas, but that can wait. What you need to do is build up endurance. You'll need to be able to fight successfully longer than three minutes.' _

" When can I go home and sleep?" He asked, stifling a yawn with his gloved hand.

_' I'm sorry, Adrien, but training is super important at this point. Hawkmoth could strike at any time. Ideally, we should train all night, but you need at least some sleep to function.' _

With a disappointed sigh, he turned and picked out a random building, preparing to leap once again.

* * *

It wasn't until the sky began to lighten at the edges that Plagg let Marinette catapult herself home and collapse into bed.

"How do I get out of this thing?" She mumbled.

_'Say, "Plagg, claws in".' _

She mumbled the words and felt a rush of warmth as the suit disappeared from her body, and a small lump hit the pillow next to her. "Fooooood…." The kwami muttered loudly into her ear. "Get it yuurself." She grumbled.

_"_Caaaan't_." _ He grumbled back.

Muttering, she tripped down the stairs two at a time, grabbed a random pastry, and stumbled back to bed, dropping the pastry beside Plagg, , closing her eyes, and falling into dreams of metal sticks and flashing green paw prints.

* * *

Adrien woke at seven o'clock sharp, his clothes rank with sweat, and a tiny red creature curled up next to his face. Creature. Kwami.

_Tikki. _

Suddenly, the events of the night before flashed in his memory. _He was a superhero. He had superpowers. He was-_

"Adrien?" A gentle knock came at his door. It was his father's assistant, Nathalie. "Don't forget you have a modeling appointment directly after school. Your father has instructed that you only have a light breakfast and exercise for an hour after the appointment. Hurry and dress."

With a sigh, he turned his head. "Thanks, Nathalie. I'll be down in a few minutes."

He nudged the little kwami. She stretched and blinked up at him with big blue eyes. He had to admit, she _was _adorable, even though she was ruthless in training.

"Good morning." He said pleasantly. "Morning." She mumbled. He rolled out of bed, and walked over to his closet to pick out his outfit for the day, then headed for the shower.

* * *

"Kid."

She was dreaming. She must be. Why was there a black kitten in her dream? She didn't have a cat.

"Kid."

And why was it so freakishly small?

"Look, kid. You have to get up now, or your mom said she'd come up, and she can't find me. So MOVE."

A sudden spray of ice jolted Marinette out of her peaceful sleep. With a gasp, she sat up. Why was she….dripping? As she looked around, she spotted Plagg floating beside her, holding a now empty glass.

" You little-" With an angry growl, she shot out a hand to grab the little monster, but he ducked away from her. "Whoa, kid! Take it easy on the delicate kwami!"

"Delicate like last night when you made me lunge with that stupid stick 1,347 times?" She hissed, ready to pound the annoying creature into a tiny ball and be done with it.

"Marinette?"

Oh no. Her mom.

"She can't find you!" She gasped, finally snatching the kwami out of the air and stuffed him under her blankets just as her mom shoved open the hatch door. She thought she heard a short screech and few Italian expletives, but she didn't really care.

"Marinette, are you awake yet?" Her mom said as she climbed up the ladder into her daughter's loft.

"Uh, yeah, mom. I was just about to come down." She replied, smoothing the blankets as inconspicuously as possible to conceal the suspiciously wiggling lump near her thigh.

Her mom looked around the room before her gaze pinned on Marinette's bed.

Her heart froze in her chest as her mother stepped across the room and leaned over to inspect her bed.

"Young lady…..what is this?" Her mother exclaimed as she brushed crumbs off Marinette's pillow. "We've told you not to eat in your room! And why are you all wet?"

With a quick breath of relief, she carefully shimmied out of her bed, hugged her mom, and started throwing clothes left and right out of her drawers. "Spilled my water. Sorry, mom. It won't happen again." Grabbing some random clothes, she led her mom back to the door. "I gotta get dressed though. Wouldn't want to be late for school…..so I'll be down in a minute."

As soon as her mom was gone, she stepped across the room and yanked the blanket back from her bed. But no kwami.

"Plagg." She whispered. "Hey, where are you?"

A minute passed and still the little creature remained missing. She had almost begun to believe she'd imagined it all, when all of a sudden, he floated up through her floor.

"GAAAAH!" She screamed. The annoyed kwami slapped his paws over his ears, and groaned. "Seriously, what is it with you and the yelling?"

"But you just…."

"Levitated through your floor. Yes. Call it a party trick. Now don't we have somewhere to be?"

She facepalmed. "School. I'm going to be late…."

With a cheeky grin, the kwami dove into her bright purple schoolbag, and started rearranging everything inside. " I think you mean 'we'. "

As Marinette ducked into her bathroom to change and brush her teeth, she called out, "What do you mean _we_? "

"Obviously, I'm going with you. You need me in case someone is akumatized."

"Yeah, I'm still fuzzy on the haiku-whatever thing….." She said, running out of the bathroom, and shoving her papers and books back in her schoolbag.

"_Akuma._ I'll explain later. "

Marinette stopped to examine her kwami speculatively. After a minute, she reached under her bed and pulled out a small floral purse. Adjusting it on her shoulder, she gestured for him to slip inside the opening. "I guess I'll carry you in here for now."

" Don't forget to grab me another danish for lunch." He said commandingly. "What about breakfast?" Marintte teased. " I would've thought you'd be starving by now."

"Are you kidding? I had three already while I was downstairs." He said . She heaved a sigh. How would she explain all those missing pastries to her parents?

* * *

Adrien put a hand over his stomach. Not only was anxiety twisting his stomach into knots, but he was starving. His 'light' breakfast had consisted of two pieces of toast, a tiny bowl of tasteless oatmeal, and a pear. Plus, he'd had to split everything in half to feed Tikki.

His stomach rumbled and he felt a gentle squeeze from under his jacket, where Tikki was hiding.

As his driver pulled the limo up to the front of the school, he was suddenly glad the little kwami was with him.

"Thanks." He called to the driver as he jumped out the door, and started to walk up the steps to his new school. It was his second day, but he still hadn't really made any friends. Other kids were standing around in groups, talking and laughing. Not one single person was alone. Except him.

And then he saw her. A girl, walking up the street towards the school, her pretty blue-ish hair blowing in the breeze. She was dressed in purple jeans with the knees missing, a printed t shirt, and a black jacket.

And then she was coming toward him on the stairs. Curiously, she looked up and met his eyes. "New guy?" She asked in a quiet voice.

"Uh." He froze, trying to unstick his mouth. "Yeah."

"Cool." She replied with a grin. The bell rang, and the students began flooding up the stairs. Turning, he followed them into their first class.

He slid into the front row next to a boy who was talking to a girl behind him. "Alya, did you listen to that new mix I sent you last night?" He said. The girl pushed her glasses back on her nose. "Yeah, it was really good. Hey, girl."

He looked back to see who she was talking to, and saw the girl with the blue hair taking a seat behind him. "Hey, Marinette." The boy said, then turned to Adrien. "Hey, dude. I'm Nino."

"Adrien." He said . "It's nice to have you here" The girl from behind said, smiling down at him. "I'm Alya. And this," She gestured to the blue haired girl next to her. "Is Marinette."

She waved. Shyly, he returned it just as the teacher cleared her throat and called the class to order. He barely heard the class as he couldn't resist glancing back at the pretty girl behind him. _Marinette. _It was nice. It fit her.

As soon as class was over, he checked his schedule. He had almost every single class with her. His luck must be turning around! Quickly, he ducked into the bathroom before his next class to check on Tikki. With a wink, she flew up and poked his nose. "How come you were checking out that girl in class?" She whispered teasingly.

"I wasn't…um."

She gave him a look.

"Okay, so how could you tell?" He asked curiously. She grinned. "We kwamis have our ways…..you should sit with her at lunch!"

He paled. "I can't just go sit next to her! What if she doesn't _want _me to sit next to her?"

"You'll never know if you don't try!"

Just then, the warning bell rang. "I gotta go! I'll be late!" As soon as Tikki was back in his pocket, he opened the door to the bathroom, and stepped out into the crowded hall, rushing to his next class. The seating was the same in every class, except for the one just before lunch. A blonde girl he hadn't noticed before slid into the front seat opposite him and turned her head to look at him curiously. And then gasped.

"Adrien? _Adrien Agreste?" _She said, jumping up and practically running over to him. The boy next to him, Nino, visibly stiffened. Alya and Marinette's chatter behind him suddenly stopped as well.

"Yes?" He said cautiously.

" You're dad is Gabriel Agreste, right? The famous fashion designer?" She said, practically vibrating.

"Um, yeah." He replied, feeling very awkward like he did every time someone brought up the fact that his dad was famous.

"I'm Chloe, as in Chloe Bourgeois. My dad's the mayor." She smirked, flipping her ponytail. "We should hang out, since our dad's are both practically world-famous. You can sit with me at lunch."

And before he could decline her _invitation, _she turned and flounced back to her chair. The rest of that class, she continuously glanced over at him, blinking flirtatiously. Nino practically ignored him when he asked to borrow an eraser, instead trading silent looks with Alya and Marinette.

_Ugh_, he thought, _what just happened?_

* * *

As soon as Marinette sat down with Alya and Nino at their lunch table, talk turned to Adrien.

"Dude, I thought he was cool." Nino said. "But now, look at him!"

As one they turned. The blonde boy sat next to Chloe smiling as she rambled on and on _and on _about who knew what?

But Marinette looked closer. The smile was fake, and finally he just dropped it and sat there staring at his food. "Guys, he's actually not enjoying it." She said quietly.

"HA. I don't believe it. He's just another spoiled rich brat." Alya remarked, taking a big bite of her sandwich before continuing. "So disappointing."

Feeling bad for him, Marinette watched him across the room until Alya snapped her fingers in front of her face. "Girl, your so spacey today. Is there something I don't know about?"

"Uh, no!" She said, laughing nervously. "Just lost in thought, I guess." Glancing back over, she realized that Adrien was looking at her. As soon as their eyes met, he blushed and smiled awkwardly. At that same moment, Chloe turned her head and elbowed him in the side. He turned towards her and didn't look back at Marinette again. Conflicted, she finished her lunch, making sure to sneak some in her purse for Plagg, who glared up at her as soon as she unclipped the top, apparently not over their fight from earlier.

They'd had a heated argument in a restroom stall between classes after she'd opened her purse to check on him in the middle of M. Bustier's demonstration of geometry and he hadn't been there. It turns out the little kwami had just phased through her purse and floated off to the cafeteria to sniff out food. Marinette had somewhat rudely explained to him that he'd better never disappear on her again or she'd leave him at the bakery, to which he rudely replied that that was fine with him because the bakery had better food and didn't smell like 'stupid girl perfume'. Things had only gone downhill from there until they were both practically spitting at each other and the warning bell rang, calling her to yet another class. Since then, their relationship consisted of them trading smoldering glances, and not the romantic kind.

She stood quickly as yet another bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period. As she returned her tray to the kitchen staff, she scanned the room for Adrien one more time, but he wasn't there anymore. _Odd, _she thought, and began to make her way to her next classes. Honestly she was ready for this whole day to be over.

* * *

Adrien was ready for this whole day to be over. He sat in front of the huge glowing mirror, wishing that he didn't have a photoshoot in twenty minutes, wishing that he could curl up and sleep, wishing that for once, his dad would let him have a halfway decent after school snack instead of five carrot sticks and a tablespoon of fat free ranch dressing in his dressing room. Makeup artists and hairdressers swarmed around him like bees. For her own safety, Tikki had to slip unnoticed into his schoolbag.

"Alright, Adrien, you're ready." His coordinator said, walking around him to see him from all angles. "Just don't do anything until the cameras are ready for you."

"Okay….." He said, looking down at his shoes. Converse. Orange.

Classy.

The coordinator huffed and said, "Buddy, look. You gotta smile okay? Be positive. Give me your model face."

Looking up, he flashed his best on camera grin, and the coordinator smiled in satisfaction. "Good. We'll call you when we're ready."

And then everyone rushed out, leaving him and his carrot sticks by themselves. Well, and Tikki, who cautiously poked her head through his bag after a minute of silence.

"Are they gone?" She asked timidly.

"Yeah." He said, staring at himself in the mirror. They'd practically painted his face with makeup, trying to cover up the shadows under his eyes. They'd spent ten minutes complaining and arguing over those shadows.

Without a word, he offered his kwami a carrot stick. "No, Adrien." She said, pushing it back. "You need to eat. You haven't had much of anything all day."

After a moment's hesitation, she continued,"Adrien, if this is about your weight, you really don't need to-"

"It's not me." He interrupted, staring at himself again. "It's my dad. He tracks my weight and decides what I eat and how much. He's actually going to be paying someone extra at school to make me special fat-free low calorie lunches."

"B-but you're not overweight!" Tikki stammered. "In order to be a model," Adrien explained. "I have to look a certain way and be a certain weight. I also have to consistently maintain that weight."

"Have you always wanted to be a model?" She asked quietly. Adrien scoffed. "No. This,_ everything_, is all my dad. He wanted me to be a model so I could showcase his new designs. All for public image. I'm my father's _pretty puppet_."

Suddenly, the door to his dressing room opened and Tikki zipped behind his shoulder. "Five minute call, Mr. Agreste. You need to come out to the floor." The worker said, then shut the door again. Slowly, Adrien stood, feeling slightly dizzy from hunger and sleep deprivation. Tikki floated back into view, and then quickly leaned in, hugging him. Then she darted away to hide in his bag again. Smiling a real smile this time, he walked out of the tiny room and into the line of cameras all aimed directly at his perfect, beautiful face.

* * *

**A/N: I know, I know. I feel bad for him too. :( As always, favorite, follow and leave a review for more! See you guys next chapter!  
**


	3. Sing Me A Song: Chapter 3

**Sing Me A Song: Chapter 3**

**A/N: Hello, readers! Here with a new chapter! Thanks for the continued support! **

**smileylilah: Thank you! I agree that they're better pairings...especially since I'm kind of playing with the concept of Adrien needing someone to care about him in that in that cold lonely mansion. Tikki is like that positive encouragement he needs.  
(also I just realized that I accidentally overlooked you when I was replying to reviews last chapter...sorry! It was _not _intentional! : ...)**

**Coming up, our first Maribug moment! **

**P.S. The song she's singing is La Vie En Rose covered by Daniela Andrade. I'm going to leave this * in the spot where the song begins. If you want, go ahead and give the song a listen. :)**

**Disclaimer: I own neither miraculous or the song mentioned above. **

* * *

In Marinette's opinion, the rest of that week was obsolete. During the day, she went to school and was very busy pretending to ignore Adrien, who continued to sit with Chloe at lunch. She tried to reason with Nino and Alya on his behalf, but nothing helped. Because he sat with Chloe, they automatically pegged him as a rich brat. She couldn't help watching him, even if she couldn't explain why.

During the night, she trained with Plagg. Lunge, parry, lunge…. Slowly she began to improve, no longer tripping over her long braid in the middle of long runs or dropping her metal stick less often than before. Her relationship with Plagg even improved enough that they weren't snapping at each other constantly.

She was even able to convince him to let her skip training for a couple hours to go perform with her band, _Section de Chat_ at a local all-night club. Singing was something she'd done for years, like designing new outfits. _Section de Chat _had started out as a couple of kids from her school, just making music together. But after a couple of successful performances, their popularity had started steadily growing. Mostly they played screamo, but occasionally she would come out to sing a slow song, accompanied by her friends' instruments.

Plagg zoomed around her room, scattering designs everywhere as she brushed out her hair, deciding to leave it loose. "Hey." She grumbled to him as she moved to the closet to choose an outfit. "Why can't you just sit still somewhere for once."

"I'm boooooored." he groaned, diving under her covers. "What am I going to do while your onstage screeching like the undead? No way am I going up there."

"I'll just leave you in our band room. It'll be locked, so you'll be fine."

"But I don't want to stay in a smelly band room!"

Ignoring him, she pulled a studded leather jacket out of her closet, and grinned. Spinning around, she held it up to her chest. "What do you think? Screamo worthy?"

Her kwami poked his head out of the blankets and rolled his eyes.

Taking that as assent, Marinette turned back around and pulled out her favorite pair of gray jeans and a violet shirt with a white skull on it. She added a black choker necklace, and slipped into a pair of pale purple flats for comfort. Spritzing herself with a bit of perfume (it was a big performance, after all), she turned to Plagg."Well?'

He lay on his back on her bed, coughing. "The FUMES." He choked.

"Shut up!" She laughed, throwing her blanket over him. Grabbing her purse, she pulled out her phone and saw a text from Luka, the main guitarist. "Okay, enough fooling around. The van's here. We gotta go." She ordered.

Grumbling, Plagg shot out from the blankets and slipped into the purse. "Just so you know,' he muttered, "I'm playing games on your phone while your gone."

Rolling her eyes, she stepped down the stairs to tell her parents she was going.

* * *

Adrien lay on his bed, dejectedly staring up at the ceiling. He had been laying there in the same position for the last hour. Tikki sat across the room, staring at him, willing him to move. To _say something. _

Sighing, she turned and looked out the window, admiring Paris' skyline. Suddenly, an idea occurred to her. With a happy grin, she floated over to Adrien.

"Let's go somewhere." She said. At the sound of her voice, he shifted his eyes to her, but nothing else. "You know we can't start training til my dad's asleep."

"Not training." She explained. "I mean, practice maybe. But let's go somewhere fun. Somewhere _you _want to go, for a change. We can train later."

His gaze locked on the ceiling. "I don't think I want to go anywhere. Not even for myself."

Frowning, he remembered what had happened earlier to put him in this funk. Due to sharing his meager meals with her and the strenuous training most nights, the pounds dropped off him too quickly, and before long, he'd begun to lose his healthy glow, causing a string of complaints from the modeling agency people. His father had then sent Nathalie to inform him that his meal portions would be doubled (yay) but that he would be monitored during meals to check that he was eating every bit of it (which meant someone awkwardly staring at him while he ate).

Not to mention that Chloe spent the entire lunch period yammering on about clothes and fashion and how the world didn't deserve her because she was a goddess and…...well you get the point. Ever since he'd sat with Chloe that second day, no one talked to him or even looked in his general direction. He was beginning to understand why, but it still hurt. He didn't know what to do about it now though.

"So you've had a bad day." Tikki said gently. "But that doesn't mean that you can't have a good night."

With a sigh, he slowly rose to his feet and looked at his tiny friend. "I guess we can go for a little while, if you really want."

Before he could change his mind, he checked that his door was locked and slid open his window. Calling up the transformation quietly, he leaped out the window, and carefully climbed up to the roof, then, taking a deep breath, he started running and then leaped. A slight thrill rose up in him at being airborne before he grabbed his yo yo and sent a loop over a chimney, swinging off into the night.

* * *

Standing just offstage, Marinette tried to control her breathing. Even though she'd performed several times before, she still got incredibly nervous just before going on stage. A warm hand around her wrist made her jump before she realized it was only Luka. He smiled his beautiful peaceful smile at her. "It's okay, Marinette. You'll be great, just like you always are. Besides", His grin widened. "I'll be right there next to you. I'm playing the backup guitar."

"Okay." she said nervously. Just then, her and Luka's names were called and with a deep breath, she walked up the stairs and faced the glaring lights and expectant faces. There were two chairs, center stage. Taking the one on the right, she waited for Luka to get set up. As soon as he gave her the signal, she began into the first bars of a popular french love song.

At first, she closed her eyes, but then, gaining confidence, she opened them and slowly swayed side to side, choosing random people in the crowd to sing to before moving on to someone else. It was then her eyes caught a flash of red, and her eyes focused on it, almost out of her control.

It was a boy, in a red polka dotted suit and a red mask over his eyes and nose, and he was looking right at her, When their eyes met, the world froze for a moment. Their locked gaze hung delicately in the air, as if by a thread. _Green, _she thought, _his eyes were green. _And then someone shifted and moved in front of him, blocking her view. When they finally cleared out of the way, he was gone. It was as if she'd imagined it.

* * *

_Blue. Her eyes were blue. _It was as if someone had turned him into a statue. He couldn't move for fear he'd break the spell as her eyes locked with his. He'd never noticed just how blue her eyes were. And now he was lost in them. And in the song. She had the most beautiful voice he'd ever heard.

It was what had drawn him to the all night club in the first place. He had been on his way to the Eiffel Tower when he'd heard the music, and stopped to investigate. It was a screamo band in funny unicorn/cat masks. Curious and bored, he snuck in and stood near the back of the room. When the song was done, he'd fully prepared to leave, but then her name had been called. _Marinette. _The pretty girl from school?

She'd come on stage with a tall, blue-haired boy and began to sing. From the first words, he was addicted. He wanted to listen to her sing forever. But then Tikki warned him that he needed to detransform soon so she could recharge, and he realized he'd have to leave. As soon as some dude stepped in front of him, he took his chance and disappeared into the night, only looking back once at the pretty girl. The one who'd most definitely just stolen his heart.

* * *

She didn't even hear the applause when the song was over, and she only dimly remembered helping her friends take down their equipment and the late ride home. When her phone dinged with a text ten minutes after she got to her room (probably Luka), she ignored it, instead dumping her purse in a chair and flopping onto her bed. Plagg floated out into the open, carrying her phone in his tiny paws.

"It's almost dead." He said, chucking it at her stomach. "And it won't stop dinging. Make it stop."

Ignoring her silence, he zipped around her room. "Ah, freedom never felt sooo good. Your stupid singing gig took forever. Why did you take so long?"

Suddenly, he was in her face, waving his paws in front of her eyes. "Hello. _HELLLLOOOOO_. Earth to Marinette, the sappy, love-sick…" A horrified look came over his face, and he continued in a squeaky impression of Luka's voice. "Oh no. Not Mr. Feelings! Not Mr. I Love My Guitar More Than Anyone Else! Except maaaaybe Marinette…...yuck. Gag me. Ewwwwwww."

"I saw another superhero." She said quietly, ignoring his outburst. There was a moment of blissful quiet.

"What color was her suit?" He asked, voice devoid of the usual sarcasm for once.

"It was a guy, and his suit was red with black spots." She replied.

"I knew I sensed her." She heard a tiny sigh, and chose not to correct him a second time. "Well, kid. I told you you'd be seeing more superheroes. It's not necessarily a good thing."

"Why not?" She asked.

"It means that it won't be long before you get to fight your first akuma." He said, then floated to the window. "We need to start your don't have any more time to waste."

With a sigh, she stood, and followed him to the window. "When are you going to explain the akuma thingies?"

He laughed. "I believe in on the job training, kid. Live from experience. When the time comes, I think you'll figure it out pretty quickly."

* * *

**A/N: So how was that for our new ship, Maribug? Favorite, follow and review for more! See you next chapter for our heroes' very first akuma! 3 **


	4. Tick Tock: Chapter 4

**Tick Tock: Chapter 4**

**A/N: Hi everyone! We're back for our first akuma AND BuggyNoir moment. Speaking of, there's the problem of ship names. Obviously, Adrienette will be the same, but there's also Maribug, Adrichat...and BuggyNoir. **

**As far as BuggyNoir is concerned, I'm open to ship name suggestions, or we can stick with BuggyNoir. It's up to you, readers. If you have ideas, just leave them in a review. **

**Also, as I started editing, I googled 'electrawatch' to see if it was an actual thing. Turns out it is, but not anything related to keeping time. It was a bit confusing but apparently has something to do with desensitizing metal? So to be clear, the electrawatches I refer to are just electric watches. Very simple.**

**On to the next chapter!**

* * *

Lamont Moreau stood in front of his clock shop,The Old Timer, trying to drum up some business. Since companies started coming out with electrical watches, more and more people abandoned their antique clocks. Which meant that he'd been losing business, and his shop payment had been overdue for almost too long. "Sir!" He called to a passing businessman. "Would you like to-"

The man didn't even spare him a glance as he rushed away.

"Pardon me." He said to a teenager who frowned at his phone, tapping the screen rapidly. "How would you like to have a dependable, sturdy timepiece for your very own?"

The teen glanced up. "Sorry, dude. Hate to break it to you, but 'timepieces' are a thing of the past. Have you seen the new ElectraWatch? It's awesome. It even tracks your weight and height."

With a sigh, Lamont visibly wilted. "There must be someone in Paris who still appreciates antique clocks..."

"I'm afraid not, sir." Said a cool, calculating voice in front of him. Lamont glanced up to see an official looking young man standing before him, holding a clipboard. "I'm afraid your payment is six months late. If you can't make your bill, we're going to have to possess your business."

Shock washed over him. Sputtering, he choked out, "B-but you can't possess my shop! It's been in my family for generations!"

The man laughed. _Laughed_. "Of course we can. You have three days. Better find a place to dump all those worthless clocks." After handing Lamont a folder of official papers, he walked away.

Lamont stood there, staring at his retreating back. Rage welled up within him. He was so intent on the man's retreating form, he didn't notice the black butterfly flutter around him, and slip into his pocket.

Then a voice spoke in his head.

_'Tick Tock, my name is Hawkmoth. These people have forgotten and abandoned all these beautiful clocks! But with my help, you can remind them just how important they are! All I ask in return is that you get the miraculouses of Ladybug and LadyNoir and bring them to me.' _

Lamont grinned as he envisioned the red ring and the pawprint earrings. "Yes, Hawkmoth. I accept your aid."

' _Oh, I knew you would….' _The voice said.' _I knew you would._'

* * *

Marinette was sprawled on her chaise lounge, lazily sketching a red suited figure. Plagg was curled up on her bed, taking advantage of the rare opportunity for a nap. It was a quiet, peaceful moment.

Until her phone started dinging.

"Shut it ooooffff." Plagg grumbled, shuffling on the bed. Sighing, Marinette picked it up and saw she had a whole string of texts and a missed call from Alya. Pressing the callback button, she put the phone to her ear and reconsidered her drawing. _What shade for his eyes ? Pine? No. Mint. Yes, that was right. Her eyes were green too, in costume. Though they were more neon. _

Yep, just another part of the disguise. Her blue eyes turned a luminous green under the mask. Creepy, but also kind of cool.

The phone clicked. "MARINETTE."

She almost dropped her sketchbook. "Ouch! Alya, we talked about you screaming over the phone, remember?'

"I know!" Her friend's voice sounded impatient. "But this is…...well…..just turn on your TV to the news."

Rolling off her seat, she walked over and flipped on her small television. Nadja Chamack appeared, looking slightly disheveled. "Don't be bemused, it's just the news! Today, things have been heating up in Paris. Police reports tell us that there is what appears to be a rogue _supervillain _roaming the streets."

The screen flashed to a video clip of a funny looking little man walking slowly, pointing something at a house and then moving on. Then another shot of police trying to trap the villain. But any time they got too close to him, they seemed to freeze and be unable to move until the little man was a good distance away.

"In related news, the new product, ElectraWatch, has begun to malfunction all across Paris. Reports have been made that the watches mysteriously freeze up and won't respond to tech support. Could this have anything to do with the strange attacks today? Tune in after this break for more updates. Again, I'm Nadja Chamack with TV News, your number one spot for news that's happening right now."

And then it changed to an add for a new car. "Um, Alya? I better go…." She said.

"But what about-"

"Parents calling. Gotta go. We'll talk later, Byyyyyeeee" She smashed her finger on the end call button and whirled to face Plagg, who hovered in the air behind her, grinning.

"Am I correct in assuming that the clock guy has something to do with the akuma thing?" She said, glaring at him. "Yeah, kid." He replied. "It has everything to do with it. Now, lets just hope your parents really are occupied cause we have a couple clocks to reset."

Rolling her eyes, she called up the transformation and leaped out her window, headed towards the streets where the akuma had last been seen.

* * *

Adrien stood huddled up behind a chimney, watching the akuma as it strolled casually along the streets, aiming a golden object at random buildings. The object didn't seem to do anything, but then again, how could he tell from so far away?

'_What are you doing?' _ Tikki asked curiously.

"I'm….checking out the situation." He whispered, ducking even farther behind the chimney as the creepy little man turned his head suddenly in his direction.

'_You're stalling, aren't you?' _

"No!" He hissed, once more peering cautiously around the corner. "I'm just…..okay. Yes! I'm stalling! I admit it! But I thought you said I wouldn't be alone."

Tikki sighed. _'I know. I don't understand what's taking so long. He should've been here by now…'_

Hearing a strange zinging sound behind him, he slowly turned around and stared.

"Uh, don't you mean _she_?" He said, watching as what had to be a girl flew towards him, something long and blue-ish flopping in the air behind her. "Is that…..hair?"

As she got closer, he was able to take in the details of her suit. Black, crisscrossed with strange green glowing stripes. Occasionally, something silvery flashed around her. _A metal stick?_

'_Uh, Adrien…..maybe you should-' _

He stood frozen, just staring at her as she vaulted herself closer and closer…..and too close?

"WATCH OUT!" She screamed just as Tikki's voice pierced his head. _'Move!' _

He was only able to manage a pathetic squeak before she plowed into him, knocking them both over the edge. He heard her gasp as they plummeted, and thinking quickly, he yanked the yo yo off his belt, throwing a line and looping it around the chimney, while grabbing onto her with his other arm.

To his relief, it caught, bounced….and held.

"Well, that was fun." The girl said. He looked down at her. _Weird eyes, _he thought. They glowed green under her black mask, like the strange stripes on her suit. She stiffened. "You're him. The guy from-"

Suddenly, she stopped talking, and slammed a hand over her mouth. And started mumbling into it.

Ignoring her, he searched the streets below for the akuma, but it was long gone.

"Look, can you find your stick thing and get us back up to the roof?" He said. There was no response. He looked down at her again." Uh….?"

She blinked. "Stick thing. Right. Um. Let me just-"

The girl wrapped her hand around his shoulder and hoisted herself up higher. "Ouch!" He yelped. Good grief, the girl was strong.

"Sorry, sorry! Uh, I just gotta….reach…." She shifted, back and forth. Grunting, he struggled to keep his hold on her and the yo yo.

"Eep!" She squealed, suddenly tipping backwards. Acting on instinct, he let go of the yo yo to wrap both arms around her. And then, they were once again falling.

She began flailing her arms in the air to catch the string, and he just buried his face in her shoulder, picturing their bodies smashed in two brightly colored smears on the pavement.

But then, the girl must've miraculously caught the string because they bounced with a jerk and then flew back up into the air and spun around and around and around….

When the string finally stopped moving, they were hanging upside down, faces inches away from each other, tangled together in about thirty loops of yo yo string, and dangling maybe four feet off the ground.

For a moment, they just stared at each other. Then a flash of annoyance crossed the girls features. "Shut UP, Plagg." She muttered.

"Plagg?" He asked. Her eyes focused on him and she blushed. "Uh…..my kwami. It's kinda hard to explain, but I can-"

"Hear it's voice in your head?" He finished. Her eyes brightened. "Yeah! Wait, you too?"

"Yeah….um,Tikki? Any ideas of how to get out of this mess?" He said, hoping she was still listening.

_'Um…..try giving the string two quick tugs. It should retract.' _

"Are you still holding the string?" He asked the girl. When she nodded, he said, "Tug it twice in rapid succession. It will-"

But she'd already done it, and with a zipping sound, they tumbled to the ground. She landed on top of him, her elbow shoving into his gut.

"Gach!" He choked out as the air was knocked out of him. And then the red yo yo fell after her, bouncing off his head before rolling away.

Wincing, she pulled herself off him. "Sorry."

"S'okay." He gasped, and tried to stand.

"I'm Mar….uhhhhh(muttering)…...LadyNoir!"

"My partner, right?" He guessed.

"Yep." She paused. "And you?"

"LB." He said simply. She stared at him a moment.

"Like, as in Ladybug? Am I right?"

Groaning, he covered his face with his hands. "Yes." He admitted. "But don't call me that. Ever."

She chuckled awkwardly. "Ha. Yeah. Okay."

* * *

_'Hate to break up your meet and greet, kid, but aren't you supposed to be DOING SOMETHING?' _Plagg snapped.

"The akuma!" She gasped, grabbing the boy's arm.

Just then, the sound of far off screeching tires met their ears.

Without another word, they both grabbed their weapons and took off, running full speed towards the sounds.

Eventually they came to a four way stop. But most of the cars weren't moving. They weren't even honking. They were just frozen, suspended in time. It was eerie how quiet it was. It was then, LadyNoir saw the funny little man, standing in the middle of the road, aiming what looked like a pocket watch at all the vehicles. A nearly invisible blue mist rose out of the pocket watch and seeped into the vehicles, one by one.

Then he slowly turned and looked at them.

And the creepiest grin ever spread over his face.

"Ah, Ladybug and LadyNoir! We've been expecting you!" He said. Slightly bewildered, she looked to LB for help, but he just stood there like a statue, fixated on the blue mist slowly creeping towards them.

So she gathered her courage, and stepped forward, forcing a grin at the little man." 'We', huh? What, you got a mouse in your pocket or something?"

He laughed. "Of course I am not referring to myself or a mouse, but to the terrible Hawkmoth, Lord of the Akumas!"

"Did he tell you to call him that?" She said, smirking. Then she noticed the cameras flashing around her. News reporters and civilians stood on the sidewalks or behind cars, snapping pictures or taking videos. _Great, _she thought. _I'm probably on TV. Alya would be sooooo proud._

Still leering at them, the man spoke up once again. "No. He is Hawkmoth, and I am Tick Tock! He has given me the power to destroy all of the ElectraWatches in Paris, so you will all be forced to admit that antique clocks are superior in every way!"

Then he walked toward her, holding up the pocket watch which had a strange moth symbol engraved on it. "Another thing." He growled.

"What's that?" She said, stiffening, her hand coming to rest on her baton.

Suddenly, she couldn't move. She couldn't even speak. She could only watch as the creepy little man came closer and closer. His eyes glinted.

It was him. It was because he was so close. He must have a force field around him that froze anyone that came within a certain distance.

'_Kid! Move outta the way! Kid, __resist __it__. You have to move!' _Plagg yelled.

But she couldn't.

"I'm taking your miraculouses." The man said. "From you and the little bugboy over there. And bringing them straight to Hawkmoth."

* * *

** _,,,^._.^,,,_ **

**How's that for a cliffhanger? I couldn't resist.  
See you all next chapter! Favorite, follow and leave a review for more! 3**


	5. I LIVE! :D

Wow. Okay everyone. *pauses to count on fingers* Things have changed a lot in the last eight or nine months…..Hell, I don't even know if there's anybody still around to read this…...But just in case there's any of you left and willing to forgive me, I'll start with an apology (I am so sorry for that wait, readers!) and an explanation.

Back in August, there were some family issues(?) that came up, and I was unable to continue writing and publishing. Not trying to spread drama on the internet, but maybe it's less confusing and easier to understand if I just give it to you straight, readers.

Basically, in the past several months, things that were going on for years came to a head, and my parents are filing for a divorce. But it's complicated because with the way that things were, it's really better now with them separated…...so it's not all okay, obviously, but it's getting better.

Which is why I've decided to come back on fanfiction with a new author name (sorry about that, but the old name feels wrong now, given the things and people it was associated with) and a brand new brighter fresh start!

I'm not sure how long it will take me or when it will be, but keep an eye out for upcoming updates!

Thank you, lovely readers! 3 3 3


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